One of the most important aspects of collecting any type of memorabilia is the ability to determine what memorabilia is authentic memorabilia and what is not. This is especially vitally important when it comes to autographed memorabilia in a variety of different arenas such as sports star memorabilia and movie star memorabilia. If you enjoy collecting in a realm where having authentic memorabilia is an important consideration for you to make, then knowing how to identify real authentic memorabilia in comparison to fake memorabilia is vitally important for you.

The FBI has recently reported that as much as 70 percent of all autographed pieces of sports memorabilia are actually inauthentic, or otherwise fake. This is a truly astounding number if you think about it. The best way that you can possibly ensure that your autograph is really and truly authentic is to have the athlete sign the memorabilia for you, in front of you. The next best thing if you cannot have this happen is to have a reputable sports memorabilia company authenticate the autographed memorabilia for you. You need to put a large amount of emphasis on the concept of reputable, because there are also companies out there that are not reputable and should be avoided at all costs as a result.

One example of a reputable sports memorabilia company that you can rely on to provide you with authentication of your memorabilia is Upper Deck. They originally started their memorabilia authentication process in the year 1992 in order to give collectors the confidence that they needed that the memorabilia they were purchasing was going to be the real deal rather than one of the 70 percent of phonies and forgeries out there. There is a five step patented program that Upper Deck employers in order to authenticate the memorabilia that they sell to their customers. First and foremost, every single autograph is witnessed by an Upper Deck representative, or it is not considered to be authentic.

Next, a document is signed by both the athlete and the representative that documents the autograph session. A hologram featuring a serial number is secured to accompany the signed sports memorabilia, and then a certificate of authenticity featuring a similar hologram is assigned to each of the pieces of memorabilia. Finally, each and every piece of authentic sports memorabilia is packaged with a card for registration that allows the owner to register their item with the Upper Deck Company, allowing their registration to be logged in a permanent file along with the document providing the authentication for the memorabilia. Should the item change hands, the new owner will be provided with a complete history of the item from when it was signed until when it was received.

This is one of the best possible ways that you can make sure that your memorabilia is authentic, so if you are looking for memorabilia that you can trust based on its authenticity, you should see what Upper Deck has to offer.

Photo Credits: tabrandt

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